Curious where Atlanta's insiders are eating and drinking? It's easy to spot lines out the door, but some underlying trends are harder to see.
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp and SafeGraph, a data set of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to analyze which eateries have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Atlanta businesses on Yelp by category and counted how many reviews each received. Rather than compare them based on number of reviews alone, we calculated a percentage increase in reviews over the past month and tracked businesses that consistently increased their volume of reviews to identify statistically significant outliers compared to past performance. Then we analyzed foot traffic data from SafeGraph to validate the trends.
Read on to see which spots are getting plenty of attention, right now.
Le Colonial
This bar and Vietnamese and French spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, bars saw a median 1.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Le Colonial saw a staggering 188.9% increase, maintaining a superior four-star rating throughout.
Located at 3035 Peachtree Road NE, Le Colonial offers chicken curry, spicy shrimp stir-fry and more on the menu.
Blackbird
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Downtown's Blackbird, the New American and French spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp saw a median 1.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, Blackbird bagged a 40% increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a solid four-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.7 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Atlanta's New American scene: endive Publik house has seen a 1.2% increase in reviews.
Open at 393 Marietta St. NW since March, Blackbird offers biscuits and gravy, grits, omelets and more.
KarmaFarm
KarmaFarm is also making waves. Open since 2017 at 54 Pharr Road NW, the bakery and gluten-free and traditional American spot has seen a 37% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.7% for all businesses tagged "American (Traditional)" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, KarmaFarm's review count increased by more than 140%.
KarmaFarm offers Southern black-eyed pea caviar, chickpea smash and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a sound 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Highland Bakery Midtown
Midtown's Highland Bakery Midtown is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The popular breakfast and brunch spot, which offers coffee and tea and sandwiches at 1180 Peachtree St. NE, increased its new review count by 1.7% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.5% for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch." As for foot traffic, Highland Bakery Midtown saw a 50% increase in visits over the past month, according to SafeGraph data.
Highland Bakery Midtown, with three stars on Yelp, offers sweet potato pancakes, country fried steak, fried chicken and more on the menu.
Q Time
The West End's Q Time is currently on the upswing in the Southern category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Southern" on Yelp saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, this Southern spot, which offers soul food and more, increased its new reviews by 2.6% — and kept its rating consistent at four stars. The business saw an 11% increase in visits over the same timeframe, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
Open for business at 1120 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. SW, Q Time offers a turkey wing dinner, a pork chop dinner, chicken wings and more on the menu.
This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
